Welcome to the ninth edition of 97.9 The Hill’s Staff Picks.
This time, read on as your favorite staffers discuss their favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. Not just their favorite, but what they deign to be the ultimate side dish – the one to take the crown – the dish that leaves other dishes in the dust.
Rules of the game:
- No main courses or desserts can be contenders (there are some cheaters)
- Staffers must give an explanation to why their chosen dish should have all the glory this Thanksgiving
Finally, don’t forget to share your own favorite Thanksgiving side with us (and let us know what dish you think reigns supreme) by tweeting us at @WCHLChapelboro or finding us on Instagram.
So settle in, loosen up that belt and get ready for a fight to determine the superior side.
Aaron Keck (Afternoon Show Host – “The Aaron Keck Show”)
The superior side dish: green bean casserole
When it comes to Thanksgiving, I’m a traditionalist: give me turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and that canned cranberry gel that you serve in the shape of the can it came in, and I’m totally satisfied. So for my favorite side dish – not counting the stuffing and the mashed potatoes – I’m going to have to go with green bean casserole. I don’t even like green beans, really, but mix ’em up with some crunchy onion bits and cream of mushroom soup, and I’m there. Can’t explain why.
Because our families are in different states, Brad and I typically get together with friends for Thanksgiving, and we rarely take pictures. So the only Thanksgiving picture that I could find is this one from 2008, when I drove up to New Jersey to spend Thanksgiving with some friends from grad school. (That’s me on the left.) I’d only just moved to North Carolina a couple months earlier, and it’d be another six months before I even heard of WCHL. (One more fun fact: this is the first photo of me that ever got posted on Facebook!)
Dakota Moyer (Digital Content Manager)
The superior side dish: (It’s a bit strange) Cool Whip mixed with pistachio Jell-O-flavor and topped with pineapple chunks
I like it because it’s basically dessert during dinner! My mom made it one year and I’ve had it ever since. I’ve never been the main cook in the house. Last year, I tried to dry-brine a turkey overnight, but it ended up being way too salty. I’m also not a fan of turkey in general. Ham is way superior.
Elle Kehres (Reporter)
The superior side dish: yams
Oh man, I LOVE yams. Especially the way my family makes them. Instead of a fluffy marshmallow topping, we coat cornflakes in brown sugar and butter (sprinkle in some crushed pecans) and layer that concoction over the top of our smooth yam base. It adds a great crunch and it is honestly the best part – my sister and I usually swat at each other to see who can get to the topping faster.
It is also one of the least….dangerous dishes. Generally a crowd pleaser and overall very unlikely to catch on fire. We’ve had some unfortunate instances with burnt turkeys and ‘drunken’ cranberries that have become a flaming torch on the stovetop, but yams – sweet yams – are an unproblematic queen. 10/10
Overall, Thanksgiving is one of the rare times where my siblings and I look like we love each other as much as we do. So here’s a photo showcasing that good ol’ holiday time goodness (granted from a few years back – simpler COVID-free times).
Jack Carmichael (Administrative Assistant)
The superior side dish: sweet potato casserole
This incredible side dish is superior for a number of reasons, and that number is two.
Reason number one: the ingenious combination of ingredients! Mixing a vegetable with nuts and marshmallows may sound like a bad idea on paper, but somehow, through the magic of brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon, it just works. And Thanksgiving is the only time of year I get to experience this unlikely but delicious concoction!
Reason number two: this side dish is secretly a dessert! Let’s be honest. Thanksgiving dinner is alright, but it’s really just the thing you have to finish first before you can get to the pumpkin pie. Frankly, I think Thanksgiving dinner should start with dessert, and the whole turkey should be saved for the legendary leftover turkey sandwiches. But even without adjusting the Thanksgiving food order of operations, sweet potato casserole allows me to eat sugary gelatin for dinner, because technically there’s a vegetable underneath! So as long as my family insists on saving dessert for last, I can still rely on sweet potato casserole to keep my sweet tooth satisfied during the main course.
Victor Lewis (Digital Content Editor and Local Curmudgeon)
The superior side dish: green bean casserole and all associated variants
Look, the Green Bean Casserole in the queen of the Thanksgiving table, second only to the turkey. You know it, I know it, and your grandparents definitely know it. Mashed potatoes? Basic. Yams? They belong in a pie anyway. Stuffing? That’s just bread that’s been in a bird. Actually, I take that last one back, stuffing unilaterally rules.
Not only it is an all-timer in its archaic Campbell’s Cream-of-Mushroom variation already, but it’s one of the dishes on the Thanksgiving table that’s most ripe for reinvention and riffing. Sure, canned green beans and canned soup and packaged crispy onions are a hitter — but why not steam (or roast) the beans for some snap, make the richest and most luxurious mushroom gravy the world has ever seen, fry up some onion rings? Why not take everything you love already, and help it ascend to new heights? This dish is unctuous to the max, it’s got the green pop of fresh veggies, the salty crunch of fried foods, all in one forkful. You can’t beat it in any variation — and I guarantee you can’t beat the one you’ll make for yourself if you really decide to flex this holiday. It’s an easy upgrade, and you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to go hard in the green bean casserole paint this year.
Kenny Dike (Billing, Broadcast Traffic and Sales Operations Manager)
The superior side dish: BREAD
Truth is, when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, I’m only there for the deserts. On your plate, you can put Eggnog Rum Cake, Pumpkin Pie with Cool Whip, Banana Pudding and Cheesecake all at the same time! Ultimately my goal when building my Thanksgiving plate, is to go ‘tapas’ with the real food, a little bit of turkey, a little bit of ham, a cranberry here, a sweet potato there, just to show I’m participating in the traditions, but the end game is to get to the deserts without filling up too much. That’s how I have always “Thanksgivinged.”
However this column explicitly defines sides to not include deserts, so to honor the staff efforts here to promote the superior side, I’m going to sell you on bread! As mentioned in a previous staff picks, I’m a big bread guy. And how often does bread get left out of the convo when it comes to Thanksgiving meal traditions, yet, there it is, at EVERY Thanksgiving table, it is the ultimate thanksgiving staple, yet so unrecognized and underappreciated. For me, a slightly warmed traditional dinner roll, or sliced baguette does it, but I’m ok with the more fancy rye’s, focaccias or multi-grains, whatever type you like, just don’t try to convince me bread is not the ultimate Thanksgiving side. Bread slaps!
Jada Jarillo (Marketing and Operations Manager)
The superior side dish: Thanksgiving corn
I would love to bring you a fresh take on a classic Thanksgiving dish chock full of healthy fat and fresh organic ingredients, but let’s face it, Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate, to enjoy, to indulge, and to relish in good home country cooking.
With that I bring you a friend-of-the-family recipe that has been The Hit at every Thanksgiving where it has ever been present. I don’t even really like cream cheese but I’m telling you, rave reviews abound for this dish and it’s so easy to make. I have added to my own list of annual side dishes and I’d highly recommend it for yours –
AUNT GINNY’S THANKSGIVING CORN
1 stick margarine
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
4 cans of corn (drain two)
Salt and pepper to taste
Put all items together and heat with medium heat. Stir until margarine and cream cheese are melted. Keep warm and stir occasionally until ready to serve.
Brighton McConnell (News Director)
The superior side dish: crescent rolls
My family has a pretty unique tradition for Thanksgiving. Friends of my parents have put on a folk dancing camp for many many years in Black Mountain, North Carolina, over Thanksgiving weekend. So instead of the ‘traditional’ Thanksgiving dinner, I grew up eating the dinner at the camp and its YMCA kitchen. Since then, as I went to Carolina, I was unable to make it back to the camp for the holiday. Which means my love for this side dish is a relatively recent development.
While I love green bean casserole, cranberry jelly and pumpkin pie, my answer is far and away crescent rolls. I LOVE crescent rolls with Thanksgiving dinner.
To me, crescent rolls are the superior side because they go well with everything typically on a Thanksgiving plate. Far better than stuffing, crescent rolls provide a great change to pace after bites of turkey, jelly, potatoes and any kind of salad. Hot, fluffy and small enough to where you can eat a few and not feel guilty… crescent rolls are the undefeated side dish in my mind.
Nicki Harris (Account Executive)
The superior side dish: Stuffing!!
Stuffing is by far my favorite Thanksgiving side dish primarily because it’s exclusive to this holiday. Some of the other side dishes like mashed potatoes and green beans are much more easily accessible throughout the year! Stuffing is special to Thanksgiving and it’s savory and delicious.
I’m having trouble finding any particularly good Thanksgiving photos, but I think this photo is from Thanksgiving years and years ago.
Ali Evans (Senior Account Executive and Host of Woman Crush Wednesday)
The superior side dish: Stuffing, always and forever. Seriously, I could write songs about stuffing.
If you took the feelings of Thanksgiving – warmth, love, gratefulness – and put them together in a side dish, you would get stuffing. My mom makes the BEST stuffing for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, (don’t @ me) so once I have it on my plate for the first time each year, it finally feels like the holidays. Not only do you get stuffing during the actual holiday meal – but turkey sandwiches with stuffing on them? SIGN ME UP.
We usually spend Thanksgiving with a big group of our wonderful family friends with kids and dogs and food galore. We obviously can’t do that this year, so here’s one of my favorite memories from two years ago of me + the guys I grew up with recreating a picture from 18 years prior. Love you guys!
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